FAILING OUR CHILDREN

President Barack Obama addressed schoolchildren grades K-12 in a nationally

televised back-to-school speech on Tuesday. Although this letter was written before the
address was delivered, the White House posted the full text on its Web site on Monday,
and as advertised, the completely apolitical speech aimed to motivate students to take
responsibility for themselves, work hard, and commit to the importance of education and
the betterment of their country. It seems to me that schoolchildren struggling to identify
individual opportunity in a fragmented, mass media-driven society, or those facing
obstacles in their home lives that fundamentally disadvantage their studies, might have
benefited from the encouragement of a man raised by a single mother, whose father
walked out when he was two years old, and who studied hard and became our nation’s
first African American president. At the very least, the address might have captured the
attention of many students, and possibly even inspired others. But Chagrin Falls
schoolchildren from Kindergarten through eighth grade, and high school students whose
teachers opted not to show the speech, did not see the president’s remarks at school – in
their most potent, intended context – because Superintendent Stephen Thompson and
Chagrin Falls Schools, in a disgraceful failure of leadership, submitted to the unfounded
concern of a small minority of parents and decided not to show it.

We live in a highly charged political atmosphere, maybe without precedent in our

history, but are we really polarized to the point of censoring a simple, affirmative
message from the president to our children that indicated no political agenda whatsoever?
What example are we setting for them? I acknowledge that the concern of the
abovementioned parents may have stemmed from a genuine apprehension that the speech
would indeed be political in nature; perhaps even attempting to “indoctrinate”
schoolchildren, as radio personality Glenn Beck suggested would be the case. Fine – not
everyone is going to locate online and read a copy of the original letter from the
Department of Education to school principals that first introduced the concept of the
speech; or listen to the subsequent detail provided by White House spokespersons; or
attend to even further explanation from Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who very clearly
identified the innocuous, apolitical content of the address, directly defused the
controversy, and alluded to similar speeches delivered to schoolchildren by President
George H. W. Bush in 1991, and President Reagan before him. But it’s absolutely
imperative that our schools, regarded as among the best in the country, do their due
diligence and demonstrate that they know better. It’s their duty and obligation to the
taxpaying parents to do so. Shaker Heights Schools spokesperson Peggy Caldwell,
facing similar parental backlash, justified Shaker’s decision not to censor the broadcast:
“The message that has been announced is really one that's very important for students to
hear. There's no indication whatsoever that President Obama is pushing a political
agenda.”

Of course there wasn’t.

If we concede that this wasn’t a political speech, but one guided by core values
shared by nearly all Americans of all political persuasions, than who is left standing in

1
opposition and what are these people really trying to say? I ask that even those of you
who are the president’s harshest critics ask yourselves that question.

I grew up in Chagrin Falls, attended Chagrin Falls schools from sixth grade
through twelfth, and now live in the District with my wife and young son. I’ve observed
plenty of local, partisan division over the years. But what’s at stake here isn’t about
politics. It isn’t about Democrats or Republicans. It isn’t about health care reform, or tax
policy, or energy, or immigration. It’s about our children being deprived of a simple,
positive message from the President of the United States. With so many destructive
influences besieging our young students, what was lost by not giving them this moment?
Maybe nothing. Maybe something. We’ll never know.

Tyler Davidson
South Russell

###